Party For Two
by spazz4eva1128
Summary: [VIGNETTES] A series of related drabbles/vignettes (drabblettes?) about the relationship between Lambo and I-Pin. Somewhat AU. I-Pin centric.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my sort of story dump for unfinished ideas. Most of these will be unrevised and less than 1000 words. Whatever ideas I have for Lambo and I-Pin, they'll be stuffed here. Each one can stand on its own, but together, they will form a story that I couldn't quite connect all the way.  
**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

Lambo ruffled his hair in front of the mirror and tried to restyle it again, his comb near about to snap from overexertion and use. He looked exasperated, and trying to arrange the sloppy hair into a better position wasn't going very well for him. For some reason, his hair couldn't get the same delightful bouncy look it always had. I-Pin glanced up for a second, and then rolled her eyes when she saw he was still at it.

"How's my hair now?" He asked, turning around to face her.

She rolled onto her back on his bed and flipped to the next page of her magazine, "It looks great. Perfect for your date."

"You didn't even look!" He cried, indignant.

She shrugged and grabbed some more Pocky, "She won't notice what you're wearing anyway. She's only interested in what's under your clothes."

He sat on the bed, giving up on his hair and pulled on his shoes and socks, "Aw, give Miyako some more credit, 'Pin. She's got some class."

I-Pin rolled her eyes again, pushing her glasses up her nose. "She's a whore, Lambo. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why you asked her out in the first place."

"Give _me_ some credit! I'm not just a skirt chaser. I'm interested in pursuing a relationship with her."

"Riiiight… And I'm the Tenth Vongola boss." She drawled, mouth full of Pocky.

"You know, the sarcasm, I could really do without." He stood up and walked away from the bed, standing at a distance so I-Pin could see the full extent of his outfit. "How do I look?"

He looked damn sexy, especially with his tousled hair and pressed dress shirt, but there was no way she was going to tell him that. Truth be told, to I-Pin, Lambo was always very attractive. Over the years, puberty had really been good to him. At twenty, Lambo had skyrocketed in height and his face had become less round and more rugged. He still had the unruly black locks that obscured some parts of his face, but his dopey face was replaced by a nonchalant intensity. His voice had deepened considerably and having lost his excessive whining through the years, Lambo was the ideal man any girl would want. Naturally, he was quite popular with the ladies, and though it annoyed I-Pin to no end whenever those floozies left their shared apartment in the early mornings, she never said anything.

"You clean up nice, Cow boy."

"Thanks, Egg head. Now get out of my room. I'm leaving."

She stood up with her snacks and left the room, ignoring the way her heart raced when she caught a whiff of his spicy cologne. Miyako would definitely have a hard time keeping her hands off of him. It was taking all of I-Pin's will power not to jump him then and there.

"You do realize you're five minutes late for your rendezvous time, right?"

"What?!"

Situated on the couch, she watched in amusement as Lambo ran around the living room, searching for his keys, not realizing that they were in his hand the whole time.

"I-Pin! Where are my keys?!"

"Which ones~" she singsonged.

"My motorcycle keys! My apartment keys! You know? The ones I keep on the blue lanyard?"

"In your hand, Lambo."

He looked down. "Oh." He looked around again, "Where the heck is my cellphone?"

"On the table next to the door, Lambo."

"Right! Thanks!" he looked around the living room, "Do you know where my jacket is?"

She rolled her eyes, "On the kitchen chair, Lambo."

"That's where I put it!"

He popped on his jacket and sprinted out the door.

"Don't wait up for me tonight, 'Pin! I'll probably crash at her place." He yelled before the door slammed shut.

Hearing the roar of his motorcycle come to life, she stood up from the couch and went back to his bedroom, hopping into his warm bed and snuggling under his covers to read her magazine. His scent surrounded her, and if she didn't focus too much, she could pretend he was here, wrapping her in his arms in his warm embrace.

She sighed, "Like that'll ever happen."

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Unrevised and unedited, but, I felt like posting it anyway.**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

Sometimes living with Lambo was difficult for I-Pin. The only reason they were living together was because it was the most convenient. Situated directly between Namimori University's campus and the Vongola base, they could still frequent classes, but also attend meetings and get to the base at moment's notice, should their services be required.

Truthfully, with Lambo's salary, he could have easily gotten an apartment by himself, but I-Pin was only a part time worker for a noodle shop at the time, so Lambo had suggested they share an apartment and split the rent. Since I-Pin had no family in Japan and she wasn't well acquainted with the city, living with Lambo had made the most sense.

But now, she was regretting that decision.

Sometimes, it was almost torture for her to be able to live with the person she liked, but not be able to do anything about it. Lambo only made it worse by walking around topless or coming out of the steaming shower in only a small towel, barely covering his family jewels. Sometimes, he would sneak into her bed on late winter nights and snuggle up to her.

But even though she complained about the things he put her through, she was still glad she was able to share the apartment with him. In a way, they were each other's families. They had been together for so long that being apart was pretty unnatural.

On this particular night, it was pretty hot, so I-Pin, who had been languidly reclining in her bed drifting in and out of consciousness, finally rolled off in need of some water. There was no way she would be able to sleep anymore. She checked her clock and groaned when she realized it was only a few hours until dawn.

Tiptoeing quietly through the dark apartment, so as not to wake up Lambo, she went into the kitchen and searched for a clean glass. They had no ice, so she would just have to settle for some cool tap water. Filling the cup and taking a huge gulp, she almost spit the water back out when a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of her.

She threw the glass of water at the shadow, hearing the loud thunk as it connected. And then she punched it with all her might. The shadow yelped when her fist collided with a part of them. She suspected it was their jaw. "Calm down, I-Pin! It's only me!"

Lambo flicked the light on and she squinted at how bright it suddenly became. When her vision cleared, she realized that Lambo was only wearing his boxers, a sea green that made the beautiful emerald colour of his eyes pop. They were hanging quite low on his hips. Any lower, she noted, and she'd definitely be able to see his junk. She avoided looking at his toned chest and instead focused her vision straight on his face, willing herself not to look down.

"Can't sleep?"

He nodded, "I know I'm tired. But I can't sleep for some reason."

"Is it because of the heat?"

"No… I don't think so."

She looked at the bandage on his head and realized he was having trouble sleeping because of his thoughts on his most recent mission. No doubt, he was still thinking about the innocent person who had gotten seriously injured because they hadn't gotten there on time. She knew Lambo, and she knew how much of a sense of responsibility he had. He was definitely feeling guilty and blaming himself for the incident.

She gestured to the kitchen counter stools, "How about I make you an omelet? Sit down."

Shrugging, he sat down and just watched her move expertly around the kitchen, grabbing all the ingredients she needed. She grabbed the last clean pan and a spatula, cracking her knuckles to loosen them up. I-Pin began to cook, her skills refined and polished from constant kitchen work in part time jobs at restaurants.

Lambo suddenly spoke up, speaking as if he were lost in thought.

"You'd make a good mother, you know?"

I-Pin spun around from the stove top and gave him a weird look, "What?"

He blushed red, "I mean, I'm just saying that you can take care of people well." He quickly amended.

She turned back around, pulling her t-shirt down, so that it wouldn't fly up and show her underwear. "Well, when the person in question is my depressed best friend, of course I'd know how to take care of them." She glanced at him momentarily, "You know, it wasn't your fault he got injured. You arrived as quickly as possible, but you can't be in two places at once. And think about how much worse it could've been for him had you not arrived when you did. Even if he's in the hospital, you saved him didn't you? He was very grateful for your aid."

"It's just hard. It's hard to see someone get hurt because of me."

"Lambo. Believe it or not, not every injury is your fault. You're not responsible for everyone's safety. You do what you can, but you're not Superman. You saved that man Lambo. If you hadn't come when you did, he probably would have been dead. For that, you should be proud."

Lambo was silent for a spell, then chuckled quietly, "Maybe you're right. I think I'm beating myself up too much over this."

"You _are_ beating yourself up too much over this!" She flipped the omelet once more before sprinkling a handful of cheese on the top with a slathering of ketchup, just like Lambo liked it.

She plated it and dropped it in front of him. "Here you are. One omelet with an abundance of disgusting ketchup." Then forgetting what she was wearing—a single t-shirt stopping only at upper thigh—she stood on her tiptoes to open up an upper cabinet and pulled a cup from the top.

Lambo cleared his throat nervously, "Uh, 'Pin? Might wanna cover up."

She stopped mid-motion, confused. Feeling the air on her bum and realizing what he meant, she squeaked and slammed the cup on the counter, yanking her shirt down as quickly as she could. She spun around to face him, "Did you see?!" She was pretty sure she was wearing her gyoza panties that Master Fon had given her as a joke gift.

"Of course I saw."

She glared at him, but her expression dwindled a bit when she heard his voice. He had answered too quietly and was just watching her with an unreadable expression. Her heart started racing. She had seen that look on Lambo's face before. But towards other girls. There was no way. There couldn't be. Lambo just didn't see her that way.

Spinning around to hide her blush, she grabbed the abandoned cup and filled it with water. She slammed it in front of Lambo's plate and he jumped in surprise, breaking out of whatever trance he seemed to have fallen into.

"Remove the image from your mind, or I'll do it for you. By force."

He raised his hands in surrender, "Okay! Okay! It's forgotten! Don't hurt me."

She downed her cup of water and sent him a scathing glare, though contentedly, she realized Lambo no longer seemed melancholic. She had done her job.

"I'm going back to bed." She stated as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Whatever you say, Gyoza Panties."

A flip flop came out of nowhere and clipped him on the head.

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm trying to write an "in-between" Lambo. Not quite out of his goofiness yet, but aware of his charm and sometimes aloof. Idk if it's working though :/  
**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

I-Pin stared at Lambo with a blank expression. "A tattoo."

Lambo's idiotic (but secretly adorable) grin grew even wider, "Yupp!"

"Of a lightning bolt."

"That's right!"

"Under your left eye."

"Right there!"

Unable to contain her exasperation, she finally allowed herself to roll her eyes. It was like a breath of fresh air, she had been holding it in for so long.

"Lambo are you an idiot? Why would you put a tattoo right there? Hell, why would you even get a tattoo in the first place?"

"I just thought it would be cool, you know? Because that's my element and all. Plus ladies love tattoos."

I-Pin shook her head and let out a heavy sigh, "Trust me Lambo. Ladies will not love _that_ tattoo."

He frowned, "I-Pin, I don't know if you've noticed, but you're not exactly like most girls."

I-Pin fought her blush, trying to decide whether that was supposed to be a compliment coming from him or an insult. But from the sarcastic face he was making, she figured the latter. Her face dropped.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He scratched the back of his head, realizing he was digging his own grave, "I-I just mean that, you have specific characteristics you like in males that are different from other girls."

She frowned, "Yeah? What characteristics, hmm?" She couldn't believe he had the nerve to say that. He had no idea what she liked in men at all. It just went to show that he was still _udderly _(;P) clueless about her feelings. She had only _one_ preference in males. They had to be Lambo.

He chuckled nervously, "Okay, okay. Don't kill me yet, I-Pin. I'm sorry. But seriously, the tattoo would look amazing."

She scoffed and went back to sorting her laundry. The apartment Laundromat was relatively empty for a Sunday evening. There were only a few patrons handling their own business in their own corners and areas. There was a woman in the corner eyeing Lambo appreciatively every once in a while. I-Pin felt the pinpricks of irritation growing under her skin and she looked at Lambo. He didn't seem to have noticed the woman.

I-Pin turned to him, "Instead of standing there uselessly, why don't you help me fold my laundry? I'll be done much faster that way and then we can leave."

He walked over to the other dryer and pulled out some of her clothes and then froze, "'Pin? Your underwear is in here." She looked up and saw that he was holding a couple of her panties in one of his hands, an amused smirk on his face. "Where did you get _this_ lacy little number from? I've never seen it before."

Red-faced and embarrassed beyond belief, she snatched them out of his hand with a squeak. Truth be told, she had gotten the red lace thong and matching bra as a gift from Hana and only wore them on her girls' nights out with friends when she wanted to feel sexy. To be honest, she _had_ wanted Lambo to see them, but _on _her. Not like this.

"Of course you wouldn't have seen them before. You think I would show you my underwear on a daily basis?"

He laughed "I mean, if this is what your underwear looks like on a daily basis, then I definitely wouldn't mind seeing them every day."

Her face burned red when a patron nearby began to chuckle in amusement. "Nevermind! Stop helping me with the laundry!"

He laughed and leaned against the free dryers watching I-Pin fold her clothes with precision and care. He loved the flushed look on her face. It was cute.

"So, lightning bolt tattoo?"

She sighed and paused long enough to look at his face to imagine a tattoo there. A snort escaped her lips and she tried to keep from bursting out laughing, "Tell you what, Lambo. Why don't you get a temporary tattoo in that exact area and see what happens."

He crossed his arms, "Fine. You may think it's a stupid idea, but you'll see."

"I'll see what? That it _is_ a stupid idea?" she closed the dryer and picked up her laundry basket.

He narrowed his eyes and followed her out, completely ignoring the come hither look the woman from earlier had been giving him. I-Pin smiled to herself.

"So…"

"So?" She spared him a small glance.

He waggled his eyebrows, "So how about when we get back, you show me what that lingerie looks like on you."

She threw the detergent bottle at his face.

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**This was written in twenty-two minutes (a new personal best! Whoop!), but I'm probably going to rewrite this chapter in the future or something. **

** Decided to experiment with Angry/Jealous I-Pin. I think she turned out nicely.  
**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

I-Pin heard another high pitched squeal followed by a giggle coming from Lambo's room and her grip on her pencil tightened murderously. The stupid girl had been making so much noise. Last night, especially. Sometimes I-Pin lamented the fact that she had amazing hearing to make up for her severely impaired eyesight. Normally, it was a blessing, especially during stealth missions or if they were fighting at night. But on certain occasions—like this one—she wanted to tear her eardrums out.

Another giggle erupted from his room's direction and she found herself gritting her teeth. What exactly were they doing in there for the damn girl to be laughing so loudly? I-Pin stopped her train of thought quickly. It was not worth the heartache.

She tried to complete a few more calculus problems, but found her mind straying, unable to focus. It was staring to approach dinner. Normally I-Pin cooked, but she didn't know how long this girl would be staying. And she certainly didn't want to cook for the girl either. Maybe she should just pack her materials and head to Mr. Yamamoto's sushi restaurant. There were usually only a few people there at this time of the evening. And she did get a rather nice discount since she sometimes part-timed. It was starting to look like a really good option. Lambo and his guest could get dinner on their own.

She was gathering her books and materials together when suddenly Lambo's door opened and the girl walked out. She was only wearing one of Lambo's button downs partly open with her, rather abundant chest, peeking out. I-Pin seethed and shoved the heavy math book into her bag.

"Who are you?" the girl asked with an accusatory glare.

I-Pin looked up at her, irritated. So she slept with Lambo and all of a sudden, she thought she _owned_ the place or something? "I'm Lambo's roommate."

"I didn't know Lambo had a roommate."

"Yeah, well he does." She responded curtly, hoping the stupid girl would back off and leave her be. She was not in the mood to deal with anyone right now. And the fact that Lambo didn't bother mentioning her at all pissed her off even more.

"Oh, well I'm Michiko."

"Lambo's dumb conquest of the week." I-Pin mumbled under her breath, zipping up her bag and looking for her keys.

"Huh?"

"Oh nothing." She smiled a large fake smile, pretending to be chipper when in reality, she was anything but. "I'm I-Pin."

"Do you go to Namimori University, I-Pin?"

"Yes."

"Oh that's interesting. I've never seen you there before."

"Well it's a pretty big university." _Dimwit._

"Oh right." She giggled loudly as if it was so funny, and I-Pin fought to not roll her eyes.

Michiko walked around the island and opened the fridge, rummaging around for something. I-Pin watched her out of the corner of her eye, irritation mounting. She _hated_ it when the girls would go through the fridge or pantry and then would eat or drink whatever they wanted. There was nothing more vexing than that. Especially, since a lot of the time, they would eat I-Pin's snacks.

She pulled out the carton of orange juice, and then to I-Pin's horror, drank the juice straight from the carton. I-Pin had to forcibly grip the table top to keep herself from hitting Michiko. She was just a normal girl. If I-Pin hit her, she would definitely cry.

"Excuse me," she grit out, "do you think you could get a glass?"

"Why? It's not like we don't share the same germs." Michiko smiled happily, "We're all human after all."

I-Pin pushed her glasses up her nose in annoyance, "Yes, but the difference is that _your_ mouth has probably encountered all sorts of STDs which I for one, would not like in my juice."

She gasped, offended and gaped at I-Pin like a fish, "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You tell me." I-Pin shrugged and grabbed a water bottle off the counter, ignoring the girl's offended gawking.

"Urgh! You are SO rude!"

_Well you slept with my crush…_

Michiko stomped out of their kitchen and back to Lambo's room, slamming the door when she reached it. No doubt she would complain about his awful roommate and how bitchy she was. And Lambo would probably console her by putting I-Pin down behind her back. She wasn't about to stay for whatever crap was about to happen. She gathered her bag and left.

I-Pin wasn't going to lie. She rather liked this side of herself. She was usually somewhat polite to Lambo's guests, but she had had enough as of late. This was the fourth girl Lambo had brought home with him in three weeks, and they were loud. _Really_ loud. Not only was it irritating, it also was a constant slap in the face that Lambo would _never_ want her. He liked a specific brand of girl. And I-Pin would never satisfy that requirement. And that? It stung. So she tended to take it out on the girls he brought. Lambo wasn't ready to hear what she thought about his whoring around. And quite frankly, she wasn't sure she could confront him without accidentally slipping up and bringing up her own feelings for him.

She had been power walking before, but as her anger subsided and turned into a sort of melancholy, her gait slowed. It wasn't worth getting upset over the situation. Being rude to the girls wouldn't make Lambo want I-Pin. She would apologize to Michiko if she ever saw her again, but in the meantime, she wouldn't focus on it anymore. What was the point of messing herself up over a guy?

* * *

**If you thought I-Pin was OOC-ly rude in this chapter, then that means I did my job right ;)  
**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Lucky! I got home and next thing you know, words exploded out of my mind! So you get two new chapters in one day!  
**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

"A C! What made me deserve a C?"

I-Pin patted Lambo's shoulder from across the table, and pushed his bowl of ice cream toward him. "There, there, Lambo. It's only one grade. Now eat your ice cream."

He put his head in his hands, "I've never gotten anything below an A in my life before."

Truth be told, his rendition and exposé on the history of Edo Japan had actually deserved an F, but she wasn't about to say that. He was already wounded. There was no need to add salt.

"And what's worse, _you_ of all people got an A! You aren't even Japanese."

She glared at him, "What's that supposed to mean? I'll have you know that I'm top of our Japanese studies course. Besides, you're only half-Japanese yourself."

He put his hands up in surrender, "Sorry, sorry. I wasn't trying to insult you."

She rolled her eyes, "Yes you were."

He chuckled nervously, but she noted how he grabbed his bowl of ice cream and took a bite. She felt relieved that he was definitely feeling better. Lambo had definitely matured in the past years, but if there was one thing about him that remained the same, it was that any sweets, especially ice cream, could always cheer him up.

She recognized a classmate Take Taneyama walking by and waved. He saw them and approached their table, though his face looked a bit weary and his smile was tight.

"I-Pin! Lambo! What a pleasant surprise." He turned to I-Pin, a brilliant, but slightly concealed smile on his face, "Are you here on a date with Lambo?"

Lambo scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous. We're not dating. She's just my best friend."

I-Pin tried to keep her face genuinely neutral when he said those words, but it stung. That's right. She'd always be _just_ his best friend. She'd been friend zoned since the age of five, and she probably would never get out.

A genuine smile broke out on his face, "Then I-Pin, you wouldn't mind going on a date with me?"

I-Pin's eyes grew wider, "A date, Take?"

"Yeah." He scratched the back of his head, a little bit more nervous now. "I mean, I've always wanted to ask you out, but I thought you were with Lambo, so I never did."

Before she could respond, Lambo slammed his spoon onto the table and glared daggers at Take, "No, you can't go on a date with her. She'll be busy."

An angry tic appeared on I-Pin's head. Without a word, I-Pin drove the front of her foot into Lambo's shin, watching contently as he yelped in pain and scooted his chair back to hold the bruising leg.

She smiled brightly at Take, "Ignore that idiot friend of mine. Of course I'll go on a date with you."

Sure, she was waiting for Lambo, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy a few dates herself. Lambo _was_ quite dense, after all, and it might be a long while before he realized her true feelings or his _own_ feelings for that matter. Besides, she was starting to get tired of waiting. It was her time to live her life and enjoy youthful relationships too. She ignored a seething Lambo, and discussed the logistics of the date with Take. Excited she had said yes, Take bid them farewell and went on his way.

Ignoring the glare Lambo was giving her, she took another bite of the ice cream and calmly continued to review the lecture papers for the upcoming exam. He wasn't touching his ice cream anymore, for whatever reason. Probably annoyed that she had kicked him so hard.

"Since when do you like Taneyama like that?" he asked in a low voice, clearly irritated.

She looked up and rolled her eyes at him, "I don't like him like that. But there's nothing wrong with indulging in a pleasant friendly date once in a while. You're not the _only_ one who can date, you know."

Lambo flushed and stuttered, "I know that! But I didn't know _you_ dated!"

She gave him an incredulous look, "Why? Because I'm too ugly to date? Or is it cuz I'm not feminine enough?"

"No! You're not ugly in the least! You're beaut-" he paused and his face reddened, "… you're pretty. It's just that I thought you were only interested in your studies and fighting."

"Believe it or not Lambo, I'm just like every other girl in this school in that I want to be pampered and taken out." she huffed, "The fact that I fight crime for a living doesn't make me any less of a woman!"

He pouted and mumbled, "I know that, but why Taneyama?"

She sighed in annoyance and continued to read the lectures, ignoring Lambo's mini rant on the negative qualities of their classmate. Why was he so peeved? He was acting like a jealous idiot. It's not even like he liked her like that, so why was he so butt-hurt that she wanted to go on a date with another classmate? His behaviour was so confusing.

But one thing was for sure. I-Pin would not bother getting her hopes up that maybe he did have feelings for her. It probably wasn't like that at all. And she didn't feel like disappointing herself and ending up down in the dumps again.

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	6. Chapter 6

***rubs hands together* So I wanted to experiment and write Lambo-centric, though this will be the _only_ chapter that is Lambo-centric. Hopefully it worked ;P This was a sloppily put together and written chapter and very _very_ ****cliché and surprisingly, I don't care XD It was fun to just spew out words and post it up!  
**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

Lambo growled in annoyance as he snatched up the remote and changed the channel yet again. He had gone through the entire circulation of their channels and was now starting at the beginning again. There was nothing interesting on, and he was getting fed up.

Well… that wasn't particularly true. There was a lot on at the moment. He just didn't want to watch them, especially since I-Pin wasn't here. She had gone out clubbing with some girlfriends from school, and he couldn't help but feel irritated at the thought of some lowlife dancing with her. The situation was usually reversed on a Friday night. He was out and about, and I-Pin would be sitting at home studying or watching the Chinese dramas she enjoyed so much. But they'd _always_ spend the third Friday of every month chilling on the sofa, fattening up on junk food and watching crappy sitcoms. Except for today. Apparently one of I-Pin's friends was celebrating a birthday, and I-Pin ditched her usual plans to go with them.

Shutting off the tv and dropping the remote onto the couch, he stood up to look out the window again, hoping to see I-Pin and her friends stop by and drop her off. It was nearly four in the morning! Yes, he knew he was acting like some jealous mook, but this was I-Pin who was late. _I-Pin._ The girl who showed up to classes fifteen minutes early so she wouldn't miss a single second of a lecture. The girl who showed up to mission deployment _thirty minutes_ early so she wouldn't slow the team down by being late. She had told him she would be back by one but it was well past and there was still no sign of her.

He let the curtain drop and headed towards the kitchen. He was going to give it ten more minutes, and then he would go look for her. He forced down the thought that there was a chance that she could have gone home with some guy. There was no way. I-Pin wasn't like that. She didn't just have wild flings. Did she? For as long as they had been living together, he'd never seen her bring a guy over, but that didn't mean she was a prude…

His fears were assuaged when someone banged on the door. He rushed over like a puppy happy to see their owner, elated that his precious I-Pin was back. He opened the door and his mouth fell open in shock.

Miyu, one of I-Pin's friends was holding I-Pin up by one arm while the other girl he didn't recognize held her other arm. I-Pin was hanging off of them, stumbling around looking… well, drunk off her butt.

"What the hell happened?" he frowned and collected I-Pin from the girls, ignoring her drunken babbling.

Miyu laughed, "You see. It's a funny story. She kind of met this guy—" Lambo shot her a cold glare, and Miyu's laugh tapered off slowly, "Eheheh… Um… nevermind. Anyway. We leave her in your hands."

They both saluted him and ran out of the apartment as fast as they could. He frowned as they took off down the street.

"Where am I?" I-Pin slurred, "I gotta go potty."

He shook I-Pin gently, "I-Pin."

She rolled her head around to look him in the eye and smiled loopily, "Lamby~! What a pleasant surprise."

He blinked and watched as she reached up and tried to grab a fistful of his hair. She looked dazed and mesmerized. He leaned back, recoiling a bit from the sheer amount of alcohol on her breath.

"What kind of bitch friends do you have that let you get so drunk?" he muttered under his breath.

"Bitch friends who wuuuuv me~" She tried to shrug, but struggled with the confusing motion and gave up. "Wanted to forget…" she collapsed against him after trying to stand up straight and erupted in giggles.

"Forget what?" he pulled her gently towards her bathroom, being careful not to jolt her roughly. She was already off balance as it was. It didn't help that she was still trying to grab handfuls of his hair either.

She giggled softly, "Forget about him."

His eyes narrowed, and he stopped their lopsided crab walking to their destination. "Who?"

"You know..." She held his face in between both her hands and looked him square in the eye, a false sense of seriousness betraying her features, "Him and his beautiful eyes."

Lambo had to fight a blush. With I-Pin's face so close to his, it was hard to keep his eyes off of hers. Or her lips. But who the _hell_ was she talking about? Who was this _him_ she brought up?

"Who is this guy?" he lightly shook her as she let go of his face and slumped her arms onto his shoulders, rubbing her face against his chest.

"He smells good too…" she sighed happily, her voice muffled and made even more difficult to understand from the slurring.

"I-Pin , who is this guy?"

"How are you so clueless?" she groaned, mumbling, "You know… It's…"

And then she started snoring. Lambo didn't realize he had been holding his breath for her answer until his lungs constricted painfully. Dammit! She had been just about to tell him the name! Who had she been talking about? Lambo's blood boiled. There was no way she would remember any of this in the morning. He would know. He'd been drunk off his ass in the past and couldn't remember a lot that had happened. And she looked absolutely trashed.

Annoyed, Lambo lifted her up into his arms carefully and ambled to her room. He placed her gently in her bed and tucked her tightly into her covers hoping that despite her rather exposed outfit, she wouldn't feel cold chills.

"Goodnight Lamby…" she mumbled into her pillow, barely conscious.

"Yeah yeah. Night 'Pin." He bent down and kissed her mussed head gently before turning off the lights and leaving. She'd definitely be feeling it tomorrow so he would make sure to be as quiet as possible so as not to make her feel discomfort. He owed it to her after all. Who knew how many times I-Pin had taken care of him when he'd come back wasted?

But in the meantime, he would definitely have to interrogate Miyu someday at school and find out who this 'he' I-Pin kept mentioning was. Because whoever this dude was, Lambo would have to have a little chat with him.

* * *

**Would you guys like the sequel to this chapter? "I-pin has a hangover?" I was going to skip that scene entirely, but if you still want the chapter, I can include it in my plans. It'll fit XP**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**So I've only ever seen my sister hungover before so I'm using her behaviour as my guide. Hope it was somewhat enjoyable. If this chapter was laaaaaaame, that is totes fine. Don't worry. It will get bettah. I sway-ah. (I hope ._.lll)****  
**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

I-Pin was not a partier. That wasn't to say she didn't like to party. The occasional rave or crazy young adult bash or club hopping extravaganza was perfectly fine for her. Like most young adults her age, sometimes she just wanted to go out, let loose, and have a great time. But frequent partying? That was all Lambo. He generally tended to go out every weekend and after particularly rough or difficult missions he would drown his sorrows with Kahlua at the Vongola's bar until Ryohei or Yamamoto would call her to pick him up. So she was used to seeing Lambo in various drunken or hungover states and was accustomed to helping him out at times like those. But she herself didn't even like to drink.

The only time she had ever drunken this much in the past was when she turned eighteen. Lambo had wanted to take her out to party. She hadn't wanted to really. She preferred sitting in her plush reading couch and passing her eighteenth enjoying American classics over partying any old day. But Lambo had insisted and even used his signature watery puppy dog eyes on her—which trust her, was impossible to say no to. The resulting hangover the next day had made her vow to stay away from alcohol at all costs. Until last night that is.

She knew Lambo wasn't at fault for her hangover at all. In fact, I-Pin suspected that he was the reason why she ended up safely tucked under the covers of her bed and not on their kitchen floor. But her head hurt, she wanted to annoy someone, she couldn't remember anything from last night, she was lethargic and sleepy and hungry and sore, and she was supposed to have lunch with Haru but now those plans had to be postponed. Lambo just happened to be the only human around so he would just have to suffer.

"Hey Lambo?" she whined.

"Yeah?"

"My head hurts. Can you get me some water and an aspirin?"

~.~.~

"Hey Lambo?" she pouted.

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry. Can you get me some fruit?"

~.~.~

"Hey Lambo?" she moaned.

"Yeah?"

"It's cold. Can you turn the heat up?"

~.~.~

"Hey Lambo?" she fussed.

"Yeah?"

"It's hot. Can you turn the heat down?"

~.~.~

"Hey Lambo?" she whimpered.

"Yeah?"

"I'm tired. Can I lay down on your lap?"

"What are you? A cat?" he growled, but he lifted up his arms, and she smiled happily and plopped her upper body onto his lap.

Lambo stared at her incredulously. He would never admit it, but he thought she was just so adorable hungover. She basically turned into a clingy, whining, and lazy version of herself, but it was just so cute. She was dressed only in one of his sweatshirts (it looked giant on her, and he couldn't say he didn't like the look on her), her cheeks held a red tint, and because her head hurt too much, she didn't style her hair, but left it a wavy, ruffled mess tumbling down her back. In its own way, it was kind of a turn on… Almost like…

"What are you looking at?" I-Pin frowned up at him, though she ceased the expression when her head pounded.

Lambo quickly turned his head away as a red blush overtook his face, trying to stop his train of thought from reaching that point. The blush was not lost on I-Pin, and she poked his jaw a bunch of times.

"You perv…" she pouted, "You were thinking pervy thoughts about me, weren't you?"

"I was not." His blush grew deeper, and she noticed it had spread to the tips of his ears.

"Then what were you thinking about?"

"How stupid you looked last night stumbling all over yourself."

I-Pin burned red. She knew she had been absolutely _gone_. What if she had said something weird? Or worse, revealed her feelings?!

Suddenly, making Lambo her servant for the day didn't seem so amusing. "Did I say anything to you? Anything weird?"

He frowned momentarily, but then shook his head.

"You're lying to me Lambo."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are! Whenever you lie to me, your eye twitches!" She poked his stomach repreatedly until he grabbed her hand and held onto it to stop her assault.

"Why don't you just go take a nap? You're obviously tired."

She sat up and faced Lambo, tucking her legs under her and scootching close to his face with a small pout. "Please Lambo? What did I say?" And then she began incessantly whimpering like a little puppy.

He finally turned to her with an exasperated sigh when it proved too difficult to ignore her...admittedly, adorable sounds, "You said there was some guy you wanted to forget about."

Her eyebrows skipped in alarm, "Did I say anything else?"

"That's it…" His eyes narrowed in annoyance, "Well?"

"Well what?" she looked relieved.

"Well aren't you going to tell me who this guy is?"

"You know what? I'm feeling a nap coming on. Goodnight."

He grabbed her wrist and yanked her back on the couch before she had a chance to escape. She yelped when she came crashing onto the plush cushion. She squirmed out of his grasp but he wasn't having any of that.

"Who's the guy, I-Pin?"

"Let me go!"

She tried to wriggle to the other side of the couch but Lambo caught on and was quicker, pouncing on her and keeping her from moving away.

"Tell me! Or else!"

"Or else what?" she challenged.

A malicious, almost demonic smile over took his face. "Or I'll tickle you to death!"

If there was one thing that was I-Pin's major weakness, it was how ticklish she was. So when his fingers wedged themselves ruthlessly into her sides, I-Pin found herself kicking and roaring with laughter, unable to stop herself from reacting.

"Tell me!"

She gasped in between shrieks, trying to catch her breath, but he wasn't letting up. There was no stopping him. When Lambo set his mind on something, no amount of pleading could stop him until he reached his goal. Laughing was hurting her head, and she just wanted it to end. She pushed against him, trying to get him to get off.

"O-Okay! Okay you win!"

He relented but was glaring playfully down at her, waiting for her answer. "If you lie, 'Pin, I'll tickle you again. Who's the guy?"

She felt like she was driven into a corner and didn't really know how to get out. Usually, she was more clever and sly, but her head was not up to par with her body today, and she was just too sluggish to think of a good way to get out of her situation. "Well, the guy was you." She hastily added, "Because you had gotten badly injured in that last mission, and I thought it was my fault because I didn't back you up well enough! I felt really bad." She nodded to try to drive her point.

He stared at her skeptically, finding her words suspicious. That didn't sound quite right, but now I-Pin was looking nervous and somewhat embarrassed, and he knew that if he pushed too hard, she would clam up and he'd never be able to get a word out of her. If she was telling the truth and it was him, then that meant that she thought he had beautiful eyes. And he smelled nice. And that meant she _did_ notice him which was all around a very good thing. He pulled back and let her sit up, patting her head gently and giving her a soft smile. He would wait. When she was ready to tell him who the guy actually was, he'd listen.

"Okay I-Pin. If you say so."

She blushed bright red and harrumphed in annoyance at his treating her like a little dog. Shoving his hands out of the way, she curled up on his lap again. Chuckling softly, he let her stay there, listening to her whine about how his annoying tickling had made her headache worse.

"Hey Lambo?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can you go get my Gyoza plushie from my room?"

* * *

**Updates will be coming faster (well... faster for _me_ anyway) due to approaching summer commitments. Expect a good chunk of updates soon ;)  
**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Short chapter :)  
**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

"So how are things coming along with you and Lambo, I-Pin?" Haru finally brought up the question I-Pin knew she had been wanting to ask. Haru had been twitching and bouncing her legs and looking overall too excited all day. Kyoko had done better in hiding her interest, but she knew both girls had been dying to ask her a question. I-Pin just hadn't realized that the question had been about Lambo apparently.

I-Pin moved a sequined dress out of the rack and held it against her body, watching Kyoko's expression to see if it was yea or nay.

"They aren't." I-Pin answered simply, putting away the dress upon seeing the grimace on Kyoko's face.

"But why not! You like him! Why don't you just take initiative?"

She sighed, "Because Lambo doesn't feel the same. To him, I'm just his best friend."

Kyoko grabbed a different dress, "Maybe he does feel the same way."

"No, he said so himself. I'm _just_ his best friend."

"Yes, but he also got jealous, didn't he?" Haru was grinning from ear to ear now, "And when Take came to pick you up, didn't you say Lambo asked him a lot of questions about his dating past and how far he goes with women?"

How had the conversation even gotten to this point?

I-Pin stared at her mentors, wondering where they were going with this thought, "Yeah… But that was him behaving like an overprotective brother."

Kyoko chuckled lightly, "Maybe you don't believe he'd feel that way, but have you ever stopped to consider that perhaps the brotherly overprotectiveness you think he's exhibiting is actually a boyfriend-like overprotectiveness? Because he likes you? Take a step back and look from a distance."

I-Pin rolled her eyes, "For that to be true, he'd have to _be _my boyfriend. And no offense, Kyoko, but we all know that Lambo is only attracted to women with basketballs for chests. You've seen the type of women he invites to your galas. Busty women and ditzes. That's all he ever goes for." She forced the hurt she felt at her own statement down. I-Pin knew because of his preferences that he'd never go for her. It annoyed her. No matter how much she tried to get over her long time crush, he never seemed to get out of her head.

"It might just be a cover." Haru added, unwilling to give it up. She grabbed I-Pin's hand and smiled widely. "At Bianchi's wedding, we'll fancy you up so well so you can see the kind of reaction he has toward you, okay?"

"What reaction?" Her eyes narrowed.

Kyoko and Haru glanced at each other.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Kyoko's face, "You mean you haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

The two women shared another glanced, this time blatantly smiling. Haru shook her head and Kyoko giggled slightly.

"Why are you guys looking at each other as if you know a secret I don't know?" I-Pin was frustrated.

It was unnerving how they were acting as if they were privy to some secret she didn't know. What the heck were they hiding from her? And what did they mean by the reaction Lambo had towards her. As far as I-Pin was concerned, Lambo only had three general reactions: puppydog-like attachment when he was hungry, annoyance whenever she called him out for being an idiot, or his weird overprotectiveness. Other than that, she considered him generally indifferent. She never saw him check her out or stare at her a little too long. Well... maybe there were a few times, but in most cases, she figured it was because she had accidentally provoked him in some kind of way. Lambo was still a guy after all. But he was generally indifferent to her looks. I-Pin figured it partially had to do with the fact that she looked like a plain Jane on a day-to-day basis, but she knew that even if she tried to dress like his preferred floozies, he would either laugh at her or ignore her completely.

"Just wait for the wedding, okay?" Haru laughed.

I-Pin was a bit uneasy about this whole plan, but she knew arguing with the two older women would be futile. They had made her and Lambo their project, and it was pointless to fight against it. Besides, part of her really did want to see how Lambo would react to her. Though she didn't doubt that it would be indifference of some kind.

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

I-Pin grabbed the comb and tugged it through her hair, trying to rid it of the waviness it had accumulated on its own. It was probably from her hair being braided all the time. She noted she would probably have to get a haircut soon, as her hair now reached her waist and it was annoying her.

It got tangled up in everything and would get stuck in branches and bushes during missions. That was a safety hazard in and of itself. Any old enemy could get his paws in her hair and give a good yank and she'd be down for the count. Not to mention, every time she shampooed her hair, balls of goopy, fallen-off hair the size of _cats_ would clog up the drain. Maybe she would cut it to her shoulders? Go back to her inverted bob from junior high? She fingered a peace in wonder of how she would look with a bob now.

Lambo sat up on her bed, an annoyed look on his face, "I'm bored I-Pin. Why do you have to go on another date with that loser?"

She rolled her eyes and applied some light blush on her face to give her pale cheeks a bit of a healthier glow, "Call one of your little pets, Lambo."

"I don't want to call them." He pleaded, giving her green puppy dog eyes. "Can't you just stay here with me?"

It was adorable, but there was no way she was going to fall for it. "No way. I'm going out salsa dancing. It's a once in a life time opportunity."

Satisfied with her makeup and the way her hair fell in thick, luxurious waves around her face, she pulled the spaghetti straps of her dress up from her upper arms.

"Zip me up, please."

Silently, Lambo got up and stood behind her, his hands pulling the zipper slowly. She repressed a shiver when his cold hands brushed her back through the thin material of her dress. She could feel his body's warmth at her back and resisted the urge to take a step back into his arms. She couldn't see his whole face from the mirror, but his mouth was turned down.

"Give me your necklace."

She handed it to him, and he fastened it slowly to her neck, brushing aside her hair so he could see better. Her pulse quickened and her breath hitched slightly when his hands trailed across her neck and collar bone, arranging the jewelry so that it was evenly placed.

"You don't have to fix it, you know?" her voice sounded a bit strangled so she cleared her throat, "I can do it myself."

He chuckled behind her and took a step closer, his fingers lingering on her neck, "I know. But I want to."

I-Pin's face reddened, and she asked quietly, "Do I look okay?"

He slowly wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and rested his head against her shoulder, his lips right beside her ear.

"You look beautiful." He whispered.

His voice was low and entrancing, and she could feel herself being sucked into his spell. She swallowed thickly and didn't dare move. He smelled so nice. His arms felt so wonderful around her. Is this how all his lovers felt? She shivered almost imperceptibly. What an intoxicating feeling.

When the doorbell suddenly rang, she snapped back to attention. Gasping softly and stepping away from him, she pried his arms off and pushed him sideways. He flailed about, trying to regain his lost balance.

"Alright Cow boy, you better not burn the house down, got it?" she frowned at him, recovering quickly, "I mean it, Lambo. Don't screw up the place."

He pouted, "Don't you trust me, 'Pin?"

"No." she deadpanned.

Slipping on her heels and grabbing a shawl in case it got chilly, she picked up her purse and left her room, Lambo hot on her tail. When she opened the apartment door, Take was standing there looking happy to see her, until he got a glimpse of Lambo's face. Sure, he was still smiling afterward, but it was nervous.

"Oh, hey Lambo." He scratched the back of his head.

I-Pin sighed in annoyance and spun around to glare at Lambo. Whatever face he might have been making at Take, Lambo quickly hid it to something else when she stared at him. Narrowing her eyes, she dared him to say something. He ignored her and gave Take a menacing, predatory smile.

"So you're taking her out again, huh? That's the third time this month. So I take it you're interested in her, Taneyama."

"I uh... Yeah, I am."

Lambo moved past I-Pin and stood directly in front of Take, trying to intimidate him. "You know we've got classes tomorrow right?"

"I wasn't planning on staying out to the late hours of the morning." It seemed to I-Pin that Take was fighting the urge to add a sir to the end of his sentence. She went back to the kitchen to grab a water bottle.

"I heard you're taking her out dancing."

Take stood up straighter, "Yeah. She told me she wanted to go dancing, but nobody would take her."

"So you thought that meant _you_ should take her?" Lambo's eyes narrowed dangerously, and though Take was standing his ground, I-Pin could see the spark of fear climbing into his expression.

"Well, yeah. I loved spending time with her on our other dates, so I thought this could be a good opportunity to spend even more time with her."

She saw Lambo's fists clench, "Oh yeah? Do you even know how to dance?"

Take's eyebrows went up slightly, "I had a few lessons when I was younger."

"Oh… a few lessons…" Lambo's face became smug, "What kind?"

Take seemed like he was rising up to some ridiculous challenge in Lambo's eyes that I-Pin could not even begin to comprehend, "Well, I don't really like to brag, but I've been trained in Latin dance since I was five. I'm a part time choreographer at the community dance center in Namimori. Tonight is salsa night and I thought it'd be fun to bring along I-Pin."

"Impressive." But Lambo didn't look impressed.

"It's nothing special." Take smiled, but he didn't look very happy.

I-Pin groaned exasperatedly. This little strutting peacock game ended now. She grabbed Lambo's shoulder and yanked him backwards out of Take's face and away from the doorway.

"Lambo, please stop acting like an idiot in front of my date."

He looked offended, "An idiot? I'm only trying to take care of you, 'Pin."

"I appreciate it Lambo, but I already have a father figure. I don't need two." She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, "Don't worry. I won't drink anything this time." They both knew how her tolerance was shit.

"You better bring her home before two." Lambo growled at Take.

"Lambo, cut it out." I-Pin rolled her eyes at him, "You don't have to worry about him, Take. He's just being an idiot."

Take chuckled, "It's okay. He's just worried about you."

She gave Lambo a warning glare, "Yeah? Well it's unnecessary."

Waving goodbye, she took Take's hand and walked out the apartment door, leaving Lambo there with a sour expression on his face.

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

I-Pin hated the grocery store on Sunday evenings. There was never anything there because everyone decided to fulfill their shopping for the week earlier in the day. Especially since most sales ended by Monday. She had been walking back and forth from one side of the store to the other for the past thirty minutes trying to think of how to improvise a good dinner from what meager supplies the market had.

"Are you finding everything to your liking, Miss?" A friendly store clerk asked.

She had half a mind to blow up on the man for not restocking the food. And he had the nerve to ask her if everything was to her liking? _What_ everything? There was barely anything on the shelves.

She smiled and nodded, moving away from the man before she changed her mind and lectured him on the importance of maintaining a good image in the store. But now she was back at square one for the umpteenth time. What would she get for dinner?

"I-Pin? Is that you?"

She turned around at the voice and was pleasantly surprised to find Yamamoto standing there. "Yamamoto. Do you shop here too?"

"Not usually on Sunday evenings." He gestured to the surrounding area, "You can probably see why."

She chuckled, "Unfortunately."

He nodded and picked up some juice, placing it into his basket, "How's Lambo? Feeling better?"

She shook her head, "No. He's still feeling sick. I came here to get some rice to make porridge, but they don't have any. So then I thought stew would be good, but they don't have any of the meat I'm looking for. So I thought maybe noodles from scratch might be okay, but there isn't any flour! So I thought I could get instant ramen and try to add something special to it, but they don't have any of that either! I have no idea what to make him! And I'm getting fed up because I don't have time for this! I need to study for an exam plus there's all my dirty laundry piled up and Lambo can barely function on his own when he's sick!" She suddenly blushed red when she realized she had begun to rant uncontrollably. Yamamoto looked a little shocked, but mostly amused as he stared at her.

"Oh, I am so sorry Yamamoto! I didn't mean to snap like that."

"It's alright I-Pin. You obviously are stressed. I understand."

"It's still no excuse to behave so inappropriately." She bowed in apology a couple times, "I'm sorry."

He patted her head, "It's okay, I-Pin. Honestly. It's more refreshing to see you relaxed enough to let loose."

Relaxed? He thought she was relaxed? She thought about it. Well, she _was_ somewhat at ease. Despite all the things she had to do, she didn't feel like she was about to sink into a pit of despair. Maybe what he meant was she was _more_ relaxed than usual. In which case, yeah. She guessed that was true.

"Can I make a suggestion I-Pin?" she nodded, "My father never liked traditional 'sick' foods, but something that he would make for me when I was sick was a ginger and carrot puree."

She forced her face to keep from cringing in disgust. That sounded awful. She must not have hidden how grossed out she was very well because Yamamoto laughed at her reaction.

"It sounds nasty, I know. But it tastes better than it sounds. All you have to do is boil some carrots and ginger in onion broth with butter, add some garlic and put it in a blender. It can also be drunk too, in case Lambo is still foaming at the mouth like he was before?"

"He's moved past that stage. Now he's congested."

Yamamoto smiled, "Good. Think about it. It sounds gross, but it has a very nice taste. Put a little pepper in it too. Helps the congestion." He bowed politely, "I'm afraid I must get going now. Have a good evening I-Pin."

She waved goodbye as he left then went to the vegetable area and picked up some ginger and carrots, deciding it was better than nothing. Lambo would just have to deal with not having any of his preferred foods. Blame the grocery store.

~.~.~

Lambo looked at the orange, chunky, thick puree in front of him, and his face twisted in disgust. "What is this, I-Pid? Vobit? Are you tryi'g to kill be?"

She rolled her eyes, "It's a soup, Lambo. It's supposed to help you feel better."

He sniffed it suspiciously as best as he could, but didn't recoil in shock. "At least it sbells okay. But I still don't wa't to eat it. It's ora'ge! And lub'py! I don't wa't to eat subthi'g that looks like it cabe out of a cat's stobach!"

I-Pin grew annoyed. Whenever Lambo got sick, he was always so high maintenance and fussy. He had been acting like a child all day and afternoon, and I-Pin just didn't want to deal with it anymore. There had to be some way to get him to eat it. She couldn't spend the rest of the evening here, trying to force him to eat. I-Pin had other engagements. She wanted him to get better, but he was just so difficult!

She let out a deep sigh and stuck the bowl in his hands, "Lambo, if you finish every bit of this, I'll treat you to some ice cream when you're better."

He frowned, snuffling loudly, "Do you really thick you can buy be off with some ice creab?"

She shrugged, waiting for his decision. His shoulders slumped, "Okay." I-Pin's lips curved into a smile. "But I'b only agreeing because I'b hu'gry, and there's nothing else to eat."

"Mmhmm."

She handed him the bowl, and he ate a small spoonful, his ashen face lighting, pleasantly surprised.

"This is actually pretty good."

I-Pin let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding in one fell swoop and finally let her stiff shoulders fall. "That's good to hear."

She stood up to leave Lambo to eat his dinner and went to the kitchen to clean up the mess she had made. After an accident with the blender (which ruined her white cheongsam) and difficulty softening the ginger, she had thought it would turn out absolutely awful. But it had smelled wonderful when she finished and apparently, Lambo liked the taste. She hadn't tried it because she put a lot of pepper into the dish since Lambo loved spicy food, but she herself could not tolerate it. But since Lambo enjoyed it, she was glad the dish was successful. Perhaps she'd make it again sometime in the future. She would have to remember to thank Yamamoto the next time she saw him.

She finished cleaning up the dried orange mush on the walls and kitchen counter and even managed to get in her load of laundry at the Laundromat. She had been busy fixing up her room, but then remembered that she should probably check on Lambo and make sure he was comfortable before finishing up the rest of the stuff she had to do.

Tiptoeing quietly into his room, she found the bowl sitting on his dresser. To her pleasure, it was completely empty. Licked clean. She smiled to herself. Lambo was tucked into his blanket, breathing deeply, his mouth a tiny bit open.

She gathered the bowl and spoon and started to leave, but then stopped. She turned around and looked at Lambo. Or rather Lambo's lips. An idea gripped her mind, and she couldn't seem to shake it out of her head. She was at war with herself. Lambo was sleeping. It wasn't right to take advantage of him this way. But then again, when would she ever get this chance again?

_It's only one time, I-Pin. It's not like you're going to grope him or anything either. Haven't you ever wondered how soft his lips would be?  
_

And with that thought, her mind was made up.

She tiptoed back to his bedside and bent down over him, taking care to make sure she wasn't breathing too harshly on him and that her hair didn't land all over his face and alert him to what she was doing. Lightly making contact, she pressed her lips against his chastely before pulling back. Her face turned red. She had kissed Lambo.

_I kissed Lambo._

_I kissed Lambo!_

_SQUEEEEEEE!_

Her face erupted into a large smile, and she rushed quickly out of her room in excitement. She jumped up and down once she was in the kitchen. That was one more check on her Lambo bucket list. It would be her little secret.

Had she stayed a moment longer, though, she would have seen the smile that grew on Lambo's face.

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Let's go back in time for a bit ;)**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

I-Pin gulped and tried to steel her nerves. It wasn't a big deal. She just had to get in, do her business, get out, and she would be fine.

"Will be fine."

"Yes. Will be fine."

She facepalmed loudly and groaned. Of course she wasn't fine. She was talking to herself now. Lambo started laughing next to her. She turned and glared at him angrily.

"Not funny!"

"Sorry I-Pin!" he laughed louder, "It's just that you're sitting there scared about a shot and it's not even that big a deal."

"Is to me!"

He only started laughing harder, and I-Pin knew her face was on fire. The other students waiting outside the nurse's office stared at the two of them in confusion, and I-Pin tried to sink deeper into her chair, wishing she could disappear. She wished she knew the Japanese equivalent of _chī shǐ_ _ba* _to say to Lambo, but she didn't and the words would probably get lost in translation anyway so instead, she gripped her sailor uniform skirt tighter and glared daggers into his skull.

"I-Pin, there's no need to be scared." Lambo took her hand and gently squeezed it, "I'll be right next to you the whole time okay?"

It wasn't the first time he'd taken her hand before, but her face turned cherry red as it had been doing recently and she nodded silently, unable to break eye contact with those beautiful green eyes. It was strange. Lambo had always looked like an idiot to her before, but for some reason, not so much anymore...

"I-Pin? Is I-Pin here?" the nurse called out. Every kid in the hallway breathed a sigh of relief, happy their misery was postponed for at least a few more minutes.

She stood up with Lambo, and they walked together inside the nurse's office. The smell of antiseptics and other chemicals ran up her nose and suddenly, her fear increased tenfold.

"Lambo, what are you doing here?" the nurse asked. "Did you hurt yourself again?"

"No. She's scared, so I'm here for moral support."

The nurse smiled and patted his head, and Lambo grinned excitedly, "I see. What a nice friend you are."

The nurse told I-Pin to sit down on the small cot set next to the counter top. I-Pin stared at all the objects sitting on top of the counter, and she held her breath, feeling herself go pale. They were so pointy and long. That was supposed to go into her arm?! She squeezed Lambo's hand tighter, and he gave her a soft smile.

"I-Pin it's all right. If you just close your eyes, you'll be fine. I'm right next to you."

The nurse picked up the syringe and filled it through the needle with the clear liquid. I-Pin snapped her eyes tightly shut and whimpered in fright. Lambo gave her a soft squeeze to remind her he was right there if she needed him.

"Alright, this will only hurt a little bit, hun."

But her mind couldn't help but conjure up an image of the nurse missing her arm and sticking the pointy thing into her chest instead. Or worse. She messed up and there would be a black hole sized hole in her arm, and she would bleed out and die.

When the needle actually punctured her skin, I-Pin didn't really feel anything. All she could feel was the weird sensation of something crawling against her skin as the nurse dispersed the vaccine into her arm. It didn't actually hurt. It felt odd as the needle was pulled out, but aside from a bit of discomfort, I-Pin noticed she was okay.

"She's done I-Pin."

Her eyes blinked open and she stared at her arm. There was only a cute bunny rabbit Band-Aid covering the small puncture wound.

The nurse smiled at her, "You were such a good girl." She bent down and handed her a lime green lolly. "This is for you."

Then she turned to Lambo and handed him a lollipop as well, "And for you, her knight in shining armor. You get one too."

"Th-thank you." I-Pin said quietly as she and Lambo left the office.

He didn't let go of her hand and stuffed his lollipop in his mouth, chattering excitedly.

"See I-Pin? It wasn't bad at all."

She nodded but her eyes were fixated on their connected hands. What was it about Lambo today? He was nothing but a stupid crybaby who only wanted cake and sweets and threw tantrums when he didn't get them. But now, he didn't look like the crybaby he was anymore.

"Th-thank you, Lambo."

He grinned at her, giving her a big thumbs up, "No problem, I-Pin!"

She blushed timidly and held his hand a little tighter, allowing him to guide them back to their classroom.

* * *

***_chī shǐ_ _ba_: basically the Mandarin equivalent of 'eat shit'**

**And thus... I-Pin developed a little crush.**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

I-Pin pulled out her dusty memory box from her closet and coughed as the dust spilled over her nose and hair and eyes. She removed her glasses from her nose and cleared them with her shirt in annoyance. She knew she had to empty her closet of unnecessary stuff to clear more room for her more recent belongings, but the dank air and unlimited amount of dust in her closet made it hard to breath and even hard to find the motivation to continue.

She hadn't seen her memory box in ages. It was filled with memories of her younger days and souvenirs from every year of school. She opened it slowly so as to not unsettle the dust once again. There were a few photos inside among other things. Surprised, she pulled them out in awe. She had forgotten about them completely. Every photo was a memory of her time growing up in Japan. Lambo had actually come up with the idea of taking a picture of every fun milestone and important event. He believed she should keep them forever so that when she saw Master Fon again, she could show him that she was doing alright.

There was a knock on her doorway, and Lambo walked inside, "Do you still need the duster?" He saw the powdery dust covering her hair and some of her face and smirked, "Of course you do."

"Lambo come here. Look. I found some childhood photos."

He walked over, interested and leaned over her shoulder to look at what she was holding in her hand. She tried to ignore how good he smelled.

The photo was wrinkled at the edges, but it was still visible. Lambo had cake smudged on his face and was obviously crying while I-Pin appeared to be screaming at him.

"I remember this day. You tried to steal my slice of cake. On _my_ birthday."

He smiled, "Yeah, I remember it too. You were screaming Chinese words at me. I didn't even understand a word you were saying."

The words had been some pretty rude expletives, but there was no need to tell him that. She pulled out another photo. Lambo was wearing a cow costume while she was wearing blue overalls, a red shirt and a fake mustache on her young elementary face.

"I remember this day." Lambo exclaimed, "It was your first Halloween wasn't it? We were a cow and farmer right?"

"No." She narrowed her eyes and glanced at him, "We were _supposed_ to be Mario and Luigi after you introduced me to the video game. But you just couldn't let go of that ratty old cow costume even after wearing it for three straight years! So everyone _thought_ we were a cow and farmer."

He laughed and scratched the back of his head, "Oh yeah. That's right. You got mad when I stole some of your candy and tore my pants."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah. You cried like a baby about it. So much so that Tsuna's mom had to take us back home."

"Everyone saw my underwear—"

"You mean diaper?"

"—and laughed! It was a traumatizing experience. You would have cried too."

She laughed, and they continued to go through the pictures from her memory box, commenting on things they remembered and mocking each other if the photo was at the expense of either one's embarrassment. There was a photo of when Lambo lost his swim trunks at the pool, I-Pin falling on her heiny her first time skating, their graduating class picture, Lambo leaving for his first date, I-Pin and Lambo disheveled and battered, but smiling hugely after Tsuna had finally approved them for their first solo missions, and so many others that reminded her of just how much she enjoyed spending her childhood with Lambo. I-Pin made a mental note to take the photos and put them all in a photo album. These were mostly her memories with Lambo. She wanted to cherish them forever.

The last photo was of their second year class in high school dressed in many costumes. They had put on The Nightingale play for the cultural festival at their school. I-Pin's cuteness had landed her the lead as the nightingale while most everyone had wanted Lambo to play the emperor because well… they probably all had crushes on him back then.

"Wow. We look so young. I can't believe this was four years ago." Lambo sounded wistful.

She stared at the picture in her hand. It was so weird how she never noticed how much the play fit her and Lambo's relationship. She had always been faithful to her crush on him and loyally stuck with him time after time again, and though he humored her at first, once he had discovered his popularity with ladies, she felt like he had flung her out of his life. As soon as he was done with the next girl, he would come crawling back to her. The play that year had felt a little too personal for her. Even now, it still felt a little too personal.

"Hey! What is _this_?!"

Lambo's sudden exclamation had her snapping out of her daydreams and turning to find him. While she had been pondering her past, he had left her side and was rummaging through her closet, looking for God knows what.

"Hmm?"

She looked under his arm to see what he was holding out of place. And promptly burned red.

It was the dominatrix outfit Hana had gotten her as a joke gift! It came with a whip and a riding crop and was basically every man's perfect wet dream outfit. She had forgotten that she had stuck it in her closet in the first place. She had never planned on using it.

"How come I've never seen you wear _this_ before?" he grinned, "This is hot."

She blushed hotly and ripped it out of his hands. "Lecher! Get out of my room!"

"Alright, alright." He laughed and left her room while she stuffed the skimpy outfit into her trash bin. She would _never ever_ wear the outfit. She had never wanted him to see that. Damn Hana and her embarrassing gifts. She would have to remember to ask the woman to stop buying her presents.

Lambo came back to her doorway a few seconds afterward, a perverted smirk on his face and in his hand, a pair of handcuffs and a blindfold.

"Alright 'Pin. Let's get our inner freak on."

She slammed the door in his face.

* * *

**For those of you who don't know what The Nightingale is, it's a story about an emperor who was enamoured with a Nightingale's beautiful song so she came to him from the forest. The Nightingale he received stayed with him day and night singing sweet songs. He ends up getting a mechanical nightingale who can sing just as sweetly as the original but because it's a "new gadget" so to speak, he loses interest in the original, who goes back to her forest. But when the mechanical bird breaks from overuse, the emperor grows ill and is about to die. The Nightingale comes back nonetheless and sings the emperor back to health. That's all I remember of the story. At least to me, it sounds like a tale of unrequited love so I decided to use it :)**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Shifting gears momentarily. These few coming chapters are the parts of the story that were originally supposed to _be_ the story before I realized that I couldn't connect all the ideas. So you're going to see quite a bit of a shift. **

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

"Bianchi's throwing the bouquet! Everyone c'mon!"

Against her will, someone grabbed her hand and ripped her onto the floor with no prelude. To keep herself from tripping, she took long wide steps, mentally cursing herself and feeling as if she was in danger of tearing her dress. Leave it Bianchi to pick the tightest, most uncomfortable dresses ever to be made for her bridesmaids. Where was I-Pin supposed to hide her weapon if someone came and attacked? At least one good thing was that they didn't have to wear the weird sunglasses Bianchi had decided to wear on her wedding for some reason.

Bianchi tossed it backwards and the squeals started almost immediately as a bunch of girls desperately tried to catch the bouquet. Someone's elbow appeared directly in I-Pin's line of vision, and she quickly ducked before she got clobbered.

"Hahi? ...I caught the bouquet? ...I caught the bouquet!"

Girls started congratulating Haru while some of the men nudged Haru's boyfriend suggestively. His face reddened considerably, and I-Pin started laughing. No doubt Haru would be pushing for marriage now.

The floor began to clear once again as a soft ballad began to play. People, mostly girls, forced their partners onto the floor for a romantic dance. I-Pin turned around to walk back to her seat and rest. Weddings always exhausted her. The bigger they were, the more tired I-Pin was during them. A tap on her shoulder stopped her.

She turned around and found Lambo slightly bowed in front of her.

"May I have this dance, milady?"

She smiled and a tinkle of laughter escaped her lips, "Why the theatrics?" I-Pin looked around, "What about your date? Won't she get mad?"

He snorted, "She doesn't own me. Besides, what kind of best friend would I be if I didn't have one dance with my best friend?"

"Then I accept."

His smile grew, and he took one hand in his while the other found her waist and brought her close to him. I-Pin could smell his spicy cologne and fought the urge to inhale deeply. They rocked side by side slowly, spinning slow circles. She looked up at his face and flushed at his expression. His eyes were gleaming with something else she couldn't quite name.

"What are you thinking about?" she whispered, her gaze dropping back down so she wouldn't have to think about how green his eyes were.

He pulled her even closer, so that her head was nearly resting against his shoulder. She suppressed a shiver when the hand on her waist traveled to her back and drew little circles.

"I'm thinking about how beautiful you look tonight." He replied, his voice low. "I'm thinking about how lucky I am to be your best friend. How lucky I am to have you in my arms right now."

I-Pin was sure her face was bright red. What was he saying? Tilting her head back up, she caught his gaze and held it, licking her lips nervously. Lambo's gaze darkened, and he looked down at her lips for a second before his eyes met hers again. Surely he wasn't thinking that he wanted to kiss her? There was just no way. He was her best friend, and best friends don't kiss each other while slow dancing. It could irrevocably damage their friendship.

So why couldn't she pull away? Why did she feel herself moving closer and closer as the gap between their lips began to close? Why did she feel her eyes drift shut?

She could feel his breath on her lips and was about to close her eyes completely when someone cleared their throat behind them.

Almost immediately, I-Pin pushed away from him and her eyes flew open to see Lambo's date standing there with an irritated look on her face. She didn't dare look back at Lambo. She didn't want to see what his face would look like. They had almost kissed. He probably looked as horrified as she felt!

"Um 'scuse me? I hate to interrupt but Lambo, I hafta leave." She crossed her arms and tapped her designer heels in annoyance.

"Okay. _Bye_." He sounded impatient and cross.

The girl huffed, offended, "Um, hello? _You're_ my ride! I need a ride back from _you_."

I-Pin composed herself and brought her racing heart back to manageable speed before turning to address Lambo, her face completely blank and not revealing any of the tumultuous emotions she was currently experiencing.

"Lambo, you should take her home."

He stared incredulously at I-Pin for a while, mouth slightly ajar, "What?"

"Well you did bring her here, so shouldn't you take her back?" It was only logical, right? Plus I-Pin was sure he wanted nothing to do with her after they had almost kissed.

The incredulous look lingered on his face as he searched her eyes. Sighing, his eyes finally narrowed.

"Fine." He ground out, sounding even more irritated than before.

He turned around and stalked off with the girl in tow and I-Pin couldn't shake the feeling that she had just done something horribly wrong.

When Lambo came back later in the evening, he ignored her completely in favor of entertaining other guests. When their gazes met a few times, he would look away quickly. The sour taste in her mouth never left.

* * *

**Interesting fact: I see the end of the "connected story aspect" to the drabblettes... The end of the drabblettes? Not so much.  
**

**Also, the groom is whoever you want to be the groom. And Haru's boyfriend is whoever you want to be her boyfriend. (Though I DO have _specific_ people in mind, I didn't set them officially because people have different ships).**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Short chapter.**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

"Hey Lambo, do you know what chapters are going to be on the exam?"

"Sixteen and seventeen."

"Oh."

I-Pin frowned. He hadn't even looked up from his notes, and he was dutifully keeping his gaze away from her. What was his deal?

Her shoulders slumped slightly. Their vibe was off. And she wasn't sure how to fix it. Usually she associated Lambo with warmth, but right now, he was anything but.

Cold. Ice cold.

It was like he had built up some concrete wall to fend her off. He was distant. They were studying at the same table in the library, but he could have been in a whole other room right now. He had been this way for almost a week now and it was getting on her damn nerves.

"I missed the Economics lecture on Monday because I had a mission. Do you have your notes with you?"

He didn't say a word and kept reading, scratching his hair nonchalantly as if she didn't exist. A vein pulsed in her head, and she felt her eye twitch. So he was resorting to selective hearing now, was he? The way he was ignoring her pissed her off.

"_Lambo._" She grit out.

He let out a long breath and looked up, eyebrow raised impertinently as if to say _'You talkin' ta me_?'. She glared at him.

"I asked you a question."

"I heard you."

"So what's your answer?" She could feel her ears reddening in anger. She ought to punch him with one of her gyoza fists. He wouldn't be acting like such a jerk then, would he?

"No."

"You sure?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Yeah."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You didn't even check."

"Didn't need to. I don't have the notes."

Her jaw set, and she glowered. Was he in a perpetually bad mood or something? Damn cow. She took a deep breath. There was no need to get so pissed off. Losing her temper would not make it any better. Clearly he was in no mood to communicate today. And so she'd leave him be.

She continued to study, reviewing an old quiz and marking topics she missed that she would have to go over extensively to get a better understanding. She set down her pencil and reached down to get a highlighter from her bag. Straightening up, she noticed her pencil had disappeared. She lifted up the quiz and moved around some of her other notes, but couldn't find the cute little pencil. Looking across the table, she saw that it had rolled away from her direction and was more than halfway past. It was a little bit closer to Lambo than her, so she couldn't just reach across to grab it. That would require her to lean over the table, and unfortunately, she had worn a shorter skirt today, only because she hadn't had time to do her laundry yet. She would rather not flash everyone her panties, thank you very much.

She took a deep breath, "Lambo, my pencil rolled over to you."

He barely looked up.

"So?" He answered dully.

"So could you hand it over please? It's too far to reach."

He looked up and scowled at her in annoyance, "Why don't you just get up and get it yourself?"

_That does it_.

I-Pin slammed her highlighter down on the table. The contact caused the room to reverberate with a loud slap and activity in the room ceased for a moment as people turned toward the disruptor. She shoved her chair back forcefully and stood up, briskly walking over and yanking her pencil off the table before stomping over to Lambo.

Yanking his glasses off his nose, she silently snapped them in two and dropped the pieces onto his notes before turning around and snatching her own off the table and her bag off the ground.

"Asshole." She snarled.

She stormed out of the library, not looking back once.

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

Tsuna watched with a look of concern as I-Pin and Lambo glared fiercely at each other. "So what happened on the mission you two?"

"_Lambo_ happened on the mission! I told him not to reveal himself too early, but did this dumbass listen? No! Of course he didn't—"

"Your plan made no sense!"

"—Oh look at me I'm Lambo. I know what's best for the whole mission even though I fail more than I pass."

"That's low, I-Pin, considering you're so fucking blind you targeted the wrong dude."

"No I didn't!"

Tsuna inwardly groaned as the two continued to bicker between themselves. Well, bicker wasn't quite the right word. He had been going over affairs with Hayato when they both had suddenly barged into his office, caked in and dripping mud all over the carpeting (Tsuna would have to remember to give the cleaner a mini vacation for the mess she would have to clean) and looking for all intents and purposes, like roadkill. The fact that they didn't come back smiling proved immediately that they had failed the mission.

But it wasn't their failure that Tsuna was concerned about. It was the fact that they were glaring at each other with pretty passionate loathing. It was rather surprising. The last time Tsuna had ever seen I-Pin so angry with Lambo was back when they were in elementary school and Lambo had insulted Master Fon. And he was pretty sure he'd _never_ seen Lambo look so mad before in his life.

Tsuna was getting a headache. "Look. I don't know what happened between you two, but you always used to work well together. So please fix it. Now."

"I _told_ you it wasn't a good idea to put Lambo and me on a mission together before we left, Tsuna."

Lambo scoffed, his lip curled as he glanced at her, "Why? Because apparently I suck?"

"That's not why I told him that Lambo." She responded acerbically. "But you know what? That's right. You suck Lambo. You suck at missions. You suck at being a friend. And you suck at life!"

"Would you two please shut the fuck up?!" Gokudera pinched the bridge of his nose, growling in annoyance. "You're in the presence of your boss! Show a little decorum!"

"She started it." Lambo growled under his breath.

Gokudera's sharp glare shut him up immediately.

Tsuna sighed, "Lambo, I-Pin, look. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you whine about your friendship. Since neither of you seem to be willing to reconcile, and since obviously, you can't be in the same room without wanting to snap the other's head off, I'm going to end this myself."

I-Pin gulped audibly. Had they gone too far? Was Tsuna about to punish them? The 10th Vongola boss was generally a very congenial and nice guy, if not a little sedate, but she had seen what could happen when he was pushed.

"That being said, you two are not to work missions together anymore."

I-Pin was shocked and her eyes widened. She chanced a glance at Lambo who looked just as shocked as she. They had always done two-man missions as a team ever since they started doing missions without supervision in high school.

I-Pin was a bit put off, "But we always do our missions together…"

"Not anymore." Tsuna responded lowly. He was being absolutely serious. "Hayato, see to it that they are never put on collaborative missions together again."

He turned back to them and gave them a small smile, ditching the serious Tsuna persona and revealing to them the soft, kind-hearted Tsuna who they considered a pseudo older brother.

"I know you might think I'm being cruel, but maybe this is for the best. What if this happens again on another mission? Try to think about this in a good way. This might be better for you two in the long run. A little space might be good for you."

Maybe he did have a point. Things had been sour between her and Lambo recently. And if this problem was affecting her work, then maybe it was best to cut this distraction from work. They already lived together and had several classes together and had missions together all the time. Maybe this was for the best.

"Yes, Tsuna." I-Pin responded quietly.

Lambo just grunted and crossed his arms, "Fine with me. I'm sick of working with her anyway. Damn control freak."

She glared at him, "Way to be an asshole, Lambo."

"Like you're any better, I-Pin."

She rolled her eyes and snorted, "Immature little bitch."

Tsuna's eyes widened at her language. I-Pin had _never_ been one to really cuss before. Much less at her best friend. What the hell had happened to their relationship?

Gokudera quickly intervened before Lambo responded with an even worse insult. He could see the offense on Lambo's face and stopped them before they got too far.

"That's enough you two!" he bellowed, "You can continue your stupid little couple's spat in your own spare time. We have work to do. Now get the hell out of our faces and go clean yourselves up! If I hear another peep out of you two in this room, I'll personally shut you guys up _myself_. Leave. Now."

They didn't need to be told twice and shuffled out of the room quickly and quietly.

I-Pin wiped the mud from her eyes and with one last glare aimed at Lambo, she walked away toward the showers.

She wanted nothing to do with him anymore. If he wanted to be an ass. Fine. That was on him. But I-Pin would not sit around and let him treat her like crap. She didn't even know what he was so peeved about.

"Men…" she groused.

* * *

**There was a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter *winky face***

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Alright. Brace yourselves.  
**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

"But Waaaaambooooo, how do I find the answer~?"

"Not this shit again." I-Pin grumbled.

I-Pin fought the urge to gag at the idiotic girl. Suzuna had apparently come over because she wanted to "study" for the exams, but the only thing she had been doing so far was attempting to seduce him. I-Pin was sure the only thing the girl wanted to study was anatomy, and _not_ from the textbooks. She could just imagine the stupid girl all over Lambo. It made her sick.

I-Pin pushed her glasses back up her nose in annoyance, wondering if the dumb girl would shut up anytime soon. She was also trying to study, but that wasn't going to happen as long as Suzuna continued to squeal.

"Ooh! You're so smart Lambo!"

The lead of her mechanical pencil snapped. Honestly. Lambo was a handsome, charming, intelligent young male with a promising future. Why did he spend so much time with floozies, hussies, and bimbos? Since they were barely communicating, he had taken it upon himself to bring over as many girls as possible. And maybe I-Pin was mad at him, but she still didn't like the fact that he brought over several girls.

"Could you guys shut up in there?! I'm trying to study!" she yelled, knowing her voice reached Lambo's room.

"Lambo, why do you live with her? She's got a pole up her ass." She heard Suzuna whine.

It had been stated more quietly, but I-Pin, who prided herself on her excellent hearing, heard it clear as day. She slammed her pencil onto the table.

"Maybe I wouldn't have a pole up my ass if idiots like you didn't come here and disturb my peace! Honestly, I'm trying to study and you should too!"

She heard the girl harrumph loudly, but smiled happily when she finally shut up.

She stood up with her notes and headed into the kitchen, looking for some snacks to munch on. She heard Lambo's door open and was preparing herself to glare at the person who came out. Her face slackened when she saw it was Lambo. At least, until he opened his mouth.

"You know, you shouldn't be so mean. She hadn't done anything to you, so why were you yelling at her?" He entered the kitchen with her and opened the cabinet to get a couple of glasses.

Her mood grew even stormier. What? He was defending the dumb girl?

"I was yelling at her because she was disturbing my attempts to study! Why do you bring these loud girls over anyway if you know they only want one thing?" She grew more peeved when Lambo ignored her, filling the glasses with juice. "In fact, why do you only ever bring dumb girls? How come you don't bring any intelligent girls over?"

He glared at her, irritated, "Shut up. It's none of your business who I bring over."

Well that was news to her. She returned his glare, her onyx eyes frosting over into steel, "_Everything_ and _everyone_ becomes my business once you bring them over to _our_ apartment and they disturb _my_ peace." She put her hands on her hip and gritted her teeth. "So unless you don't want me to mind my own business, I suggest you go elsewhere with those harlots of yours."

He had picked up the glasses and was going to leave but placed them back down on the counter and fully faced I-Pin, his eyes shining in anger and his voice rising with each word he spoke. "Why do you even care who I bring over? You've got your little boyfriend, and I've got my little girlfriends so everything should be fine and dandy, shouldn't it?"

"He's not my boyfriend." Her eyes narrowed and she snarled at him, stepping closer and jabbing a finger in his direction, "And you, Lambo. Are. A. Cad."

"Um, excuse me?" Suzuna had come out of the room and was standing on the other side of the island, trying to get the attention of the bickering pair.

His face burned slight red, "Yeah? Well, you toy with people's emotions! You know how they feel, yet you still continue to play with them!"

"Hello?"

"What the hell are you even talking about?!"

"Excuse me!"

"And you can be such a hypocrite, you know?"

"Can you guys stop for like a second?"

"I'm the hypocrite?! _You're_ the hypocrite Lambo! You spend all week in between some girl's legs and then you find a new one the next week and tell her she's the only one for you!"

"Helloooo!"

"How does that make _me_ a hypocrite?! You say you're okay with me bringing girls over but as soon as they come, you chase them out by acting like a raging bitch!"

"ENOUGH!"

They stopped yelling and both of them looked in alarm toward Suzuna. The girl stood there very red faced and looking very pissed. Hands on her hips, she glared at them both.

"You think _I'm_ the one who's dense and stupid? Look at you two! You clearly are the idiots in this room. Not me. _You_." She rolled her eyes, "I cannot believe I didn't see it before! You two need to sit down and discuss what's going on here because I dunno if you noticed, but there's like waaaay too much UST in here. I could totally cut it with a knife!"

They stared at her, silent and wide eyed as she grabbed her purse and headed to the front door. "Lambo, baby, why don't you give me a call when you finally patch things up with your little girlfriend, mmkay?"

The apartment door shut and everything suddenly became silent. Awkwardly silent.

I-Pin chanced a glance at Lambo and found he was staring at her with a raised eyebrow. She shifted her weight.

"Lambo… This isn't working."

His eyebrows shot up, slightly in alarm, "What do you mean?"

"I mean... I can't keep living here with you. It's just not working."

He looked shocked, "Is it because of our fight? I'm sorry, kay? I was just mad about something. I didn't mean to lash out."

"It's not about the fight, Lambo." _Well, at least not totally._

"Then what is it about?" His eyes got that shine in them when he was on the verge of snapping in anger. "Are you hiding something from me, I-Pin?"

Her face began to blush slight red, and she looked down and away from Lambo. If she looked at him, she would chicken out.

"N-no. It's just that you've got your life, and I've got mine. I'm never going to be okay with all the girls you bring over. And I think we're just at that point where we're too old to be living together anymore. This arrangement used to work when we were in high school, but now it's just not happening."

"So then what? What are you proposing?" he was defensive.

She sighed. "I think it would be best if I moved out."

He was silent for a spell and she looked up slowly. He looked… hurt. She blinked, but when she looked back at him, gone was his open pained expression, and in its place was a frosty, indifferent glare.

"Is that so? Then where are you even going to stay?"

"Kyoko has a guest room in her apartment. I'll crash there until I find my own place."

"So you've been planning this for a while. Whatever."

She frowned at him. Why was he being such an ass? Isn't this what he wanted? Space to bring his dumb girls around? He should've been jumping for joy or at least seeing her reasoning for saying that in the first place. It made perfect sense to her. Their lives were just too different and lately, their relationship had been suffering. So they needed space.

"What is your problem, Lambo? You should be happy I'm gone. Isn't that what you wanted?"

His eyes lit up in anger, "When did I ever say I wanted you to move out?! I swear sometimes you can be so dense—"

"_Me? DENSE?!_" I-Pin took a deep breath before she would explode. She caught herself before she revealed something she knew she would regret. "You see, Lambo? You see how we keep fighting? I think it's time for me to go, before our relationship gets even more damaged than it already is!"

He shrugged, his eyes glacial green and spun on his heels, "Do whatever you want. I don't care."

She kept telling herself it didn't hurt that he didn't care. She kept telling herself that it was the right thing to do. She kept telling herself she was fine with the fact that he didn't want to fight for her to stay. She kept telling herself it was to protect their relationship. But when she got under her covers that night, she curled into a ball and couldn't help but cry.

* * *

**So consider this a milestone ;)**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

"That should be the last of my stuff."

Kyoko gave her a pitying look, as if she could read right through her, "I-Pin. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Kyoko guided her to the plush couch in the living room and sat her down anyway, "What happened? Things were going so well."

She sighed, "I know they were." At least until the wedding, that is. "Then The Incident happened."

"The Incident?"

I-Pin felt her face start to burn. "Lambo and I almost kissed at the wedding, Kyoko."

Her eyes brightened, and she clapped her hands excitedly, "Finally!"

I-Pin looked down, "And then I pissed him off. I don't even know what I did though. We haven't really talked for days and when we finally do talk, all we can do is argue, and even when we argue, there's no communication going on at all. So I told him I should move out."

Kyoko's mouth opened in shock, "I-Pin, no."

I-Pin nodded, "I did. And he got upset. I don't even know why! It makes perfect sense to me."

Kyoko sighed, "Can I be honest with you, I-Pin?"

She nodded slowly, wringing her hands together.

"It sounds to me… like you told him you needed space. From _him_."

"I do need space! So does he! We can't keep living together if all it means is we'll fight every day. I just…"

"You just what?" Kyoko lightly placed her hand on her shoulder, coaxing I-Pin gently to talk.

"I don't want to lose what we have. Or had, at least. Lambo is my best friend."

"But you love him." A statement, not a question.

I-Pin nodded slowly after a spell, "But it doesn't make a difference because he'll never feel the same."

Kyoko smiled softly, "You know, I'm not going to sit here and tell you things that might not be true, but there is one thing I know: Lambo loves you too, I-Pin. Maybe you haven't realized it yet because you've been too close to him as a friend but I've seen it in the way he looks at you. In the way his face lights up when you walk in the room. In the way he protects and takes care of you. Lambo may be a bit dense, but I'm sure he knows what he feels for you."

I-Pin smiled, "Thanks Kyoko. I appreciate it, I really do, and I'm sure Lambo loves me too, but just not the way I love him."

"Give it some time, I-Pin. You'll see what I mean." Kyoko patted her hand a few times, "I'm going to make dinner, alright? If you want to talk some more, just let me know."

I-Pin watched her leave before standing up and walking back to the room she would be using. There was something off about it. It was missing Lambo's essence. There wasn't one of his sweatshirts on the floor or any snacks lying on the dresser. She couldn't smell him in her room.

Rummaging through the clothes she had taken, she found one of his university sweatshirts. It was an excuse to call him, right?

She dialed his number, hoping he would respond soon. He did.

_"Yes?"_

"Hey, Lambo… I, uh. I have one of your sweatshirts."

_"You do? You can keep it, I guess."_

"Okay."

There was a pregnant pause, and I-Pin raked her mind for something to say.

_"You left one of your gyoza plushies on the couch."_

"Oh. Well, you can keep it."

_"I was planning on it."_

"Cool."

The awkward silence lingered and she didn't know what to say. Once upon a time, conversation with Lambo was like breathing. Now, it was like she was clawing at air, trying to grasp for words to say to no avail. She heard him shuffle around and then the sound of a door closing was heard in the background.

_"How's the apartment?" _

"It's good. Kyoko's a good cook."

_"Probably not better than you."_

"Of course not. Nobody's better than me."

Lambo chuckled lightly and the heavy weight on her chest lifted a little bit.

_"Listen, I-Pin. I've gotta go out now, but I'll see you on Monday?"_

"Okay. You take care of yourself."

_"I will. Bye."_

"Bye."

She closed the phone and sat down onto the bed, organizing some more of the clothes that she had been unpacking and sorting. Why did it feel like they were in two different worlds, even though they weren't that far apart? She missed him. Terribly. Talking to him helped her feel better all the time. She could tell him everything.

But who was she supposed to talk to when the problem involved said best friend?

* * *

**I was going to shove another chapter before this one, but it didn't fit anymore and taking out the parts that didn't make sense would have left the chapter at 300 words (and I'm too lazy to try to find other stuff to fit), so I cut it. But just giving you the info anyway, Lambo helped her pack her stuff and though they didn't talk much, he apologized for being a brute and she apologized for insulting him and that's why their convo in this chapter isn't so clipped.**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Unrevised. I apologize.**

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

"I-Pin, are you okay?"

She snapped out of her daze and gave Take a friendly smile, "You already asked me that. I'm fine, Take."

He smiled, "Of course, of course. But are you sure you're okay?" He handed her her mint ice cream cone after he received his as well and they continued their leisurely stroll through Namimori Park.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, lately, you seem pretty melancholic. Well, not directly, but there's this sad air around you. You just seem kind of down. Did something happen with you and Lambo? I haven't seen him around in a while."

Well that was because lately, Lambo had been taking whatever measures he could to get as many missions as he could possibly get. He was rarely at school, and if he was, he avoided her at all costs or he surrounded himself with the vapid girls in their school. It had really started to grate on her nerves, but it also made her sad. It was like Lambo had no intention of continuing their friendship. She just felt so lost. Lambo was like the bright, idiotic, adorable sun in her life. And now the sun was gone.

It had gotten to the point where everywhere she looked, she thought she could see Lambo. She was always searching out for him in the classroom and looking for him when walking through the campus. I-Pin had _wanted_ space when she first thought about moving out, but it was proving to be rather difficult to keep up with that idea.

"I'm just tired, Take. As for Lambo, he's visiting family in Italy." she lied.

"Lambo is Italian?" Take looked surprised, "That's a lot more competition for me, then."

I-Pin had been so lost in her own thoughts on Lambo and her that she almost missed his comment.

"Wait, what? There is no competition Take. Lambo and I _aren't_ even an item."

"It sure seems that way to me."

"Well we aren't. It doesn't matter anyway."

Take paused and I-Pin stopped walking and turned around to face him when she realized he wasn't beside her anymore, "Take?"

"I-Pin, you love him don't you?"

She did a double take. How was everyone able to read her like a book?! Was she so obvious in the fact that she did? Did that make Lambo super dense? Apparently she was so open with her feelings, so why hadn't Lambo noticed?

She nodded slowly, "I do, Take. But it's not going anywhere, and I think it's time for me to move on."

Take laughed and then shook his head and sat down on a bench, patting the seat next to him. She walked over and sat down next to him too.

"I know saying this is going to ruin my chances, but I-Pin, you can't just give up on your first love so quickly."

"I don't want to have to deal with the heartbreak. I should just cut my losses now before things get worse." she countered quickly. It was her ready made response for whenever anyone brought up her relationship with Lambo. But I-Pin couldn't lie. The reason she was so adamant about this was because she was trying to make _herself_ believe her own words. If she said them enough, maybe they would come true.

"And then what? You regret for the rest of your life that Lambo was the one that got away?"

Shocked at his words, she stared at him, no words able to come to her mouth.

"Look, I like you. I really do I-Pin. I'm a selfish guy, and I want you all to myself. But you're clearly not ready yet. Your heart still belongs to him. I want you to be happy, okay? Even though I don't want to say this, you've gotta deal with your Lambo situation."

"Take, it's okay. I've already given up."

"You think you have, but you actually haven't." He bopped her nose and smiled encouragingly, "I-Pin have you seen the way Lambo looks at you?"

"This again? Why does everyone keep saying that? Lambo looks at me the same way he would look at you or his friends or his boss. There's nothing different about it."

"From your perspective, maybe. But that's because you've been friends for years. But from mine, I would say differently."

She frowned, "I wish, but I don't think that's the case." Especially after our fight started.

He chuckled, "At least try, I-Pin. If it doesn't work out, you can always come running back to me. I'll be waiting."

She stood up and pulled him up to his feet, "Okay I will. Now can we stop talking about Lambo and just enjoy our date in the park?"

His smile grew, "I'd love to."

* * *

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Peace Love and Anime :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own KHR. Just havin' some fun with it :)**

* * *

I-Pin was generally a grounded person. She didn't let much distract her, and she prided herself on her absolute self-control and focus. When she went on missions, there wasn't a single one that left her in a sticky situation. She was what most would consider an ideal warrior.

Which was why when she felt the bullet enter her shoulder, she could do nothing but blink in confusion. She had been fighting, but she was distracted by the situation she had been in. Of course, it was fine to do that when she wanted to daydream, but she was working and it was imperative that she stay alert. Before she had left for the mission, she had spoken to Lambo. It had been an awkward, disjointed conversation, but he had wished her good luck. She had been trying to decipher the looks on his face and attempting to see if all the people were right about Lambo when he looked at her, but she had been largely unsuccessful and couldn't understand what people saw in his gaze.

Of course, by the time she had gotten back on track with the mission, the target had already shot her. The backup that had been there later told her she had passed out and it had been a while before they found her. They had been put off by her silence over the communicators because she always answered and they had ultimately abandoned the mission to find her. With good reason too. By the time they had reached her, she had lost a lot of blood and the wound obviously wasn't closing anytime soon.

Unfortunately, the target had escaped. I-Pin felt like crap. Not only had she lost focus and let her emotions control her mission, she had also botched the mission and now it would take twice as long to find the targets once again, especially since they knew they were the targets and would most likely go into hiding. Tsuna had asked her not to blame herself and told her that Hibari would handle the rest. But he had recognized her inability to perform and had given her a mini-vacation until things in her life cleared up. I-Pin suspected Kyoko had told him about what was going on with Lambo.

Rolling over and trying to get into a more comfortable position, she finally gave up trying to think, staring dully out of the half opened blinds into the face of the rising sun. It was beautiful and a small, loopy smile grew on her face.

I-Pin was planning on getting out of bed when suddenly, the door to her room flew open and banged against the wall. She jumped and her eyes grew wide, knowing she was vulnerable. She looked up and found Lambo in the doorway looking _crazed_. A nurse, severely out of breath, caught up and tried to grab his arm.

"Visiting hours… don't… begin… until eight!" She looked like she was about to die.

"How could you be so stupid I-Pin?!" Lambo bellowed, his emerald eyes flashing.

She took a deep, angry breath, "...What?"

He pried the nurse's hand off his arm and took quick strides forward until he sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"I-Pin do you know how scared I was when I heard you had gotten shot? I thought you were dead!"

She had no words. Her eyes wide, she blinked. Lambo was… worried? Even after how messed up their relationship became? She took in his appearance. He was wearing a disheveled business suit and his hair was unruly. There was dried blood on his forehead and dust and dirt all over his clothes. He must've come straight from a mission.

"I–"

"You know better than to go on a mission when you're distracted!"

"How did you know I was—"

"I'm your best friend I-Pin, I know everything about you!"

She frowned, "…Not everything…"

He ignored her and stood up, walking over to the nurse whose purple face had finally turned into a healthy shade of pink. "When can she be discharged?"

The nurse frowned, "You are not supposed to be in here young man!"

"I don't care. When can she be discharged?"

Affronted, the nurse grabbed her clipboard and stared at the numbers, "She should be good to go."

"Good." He turned to I-Pin. "You're coming home with me."

Her eyebrows rose, "What? No. I'm not. I live with Kyo—"

"Kyoko is out of town. And there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you live in that apartment by yourself when your arm is unusable, and you're hopped up on pain killers. I'm taking you home."

As if reading his mind, the nurse procured some paper from her stack, all traces of her original disdain gone. In fact, she looked a little awestruck, "Are you a relative?"

"Her family lives in China. I'm her contact."

The nurse nodded and handed him the sheet, which he signed so quickly, the pen was almost a blur. The nurse retrieved the form and left the two of them. He turned back to I-Pin. "Get dressed. Can you walk?"

She rolled her eyes and stepped out of the bed and stood up carefully, so as not to jostle her arm. "Yes, Lambo. I can definitely walk."

He didn't budge and stayed there watching her.

"Hello? I'm not changing with you staring at me, Lambo."

"I'm not leaving this room."

I-Pin was going to get angry, but then she took a look at Lambo's tired, panic-stricken face and her facial muscles relaxed. He really _did_ care about her. He looked exhausted and who knows how difficult his mission had been. Yet, he still came straight to her to make sure she was okay. Slightly wobbly, she walked over to him and placed a hand on his crossed arms, resting her forehead against his chest.

"You big dummy... Lambo, I'm not going to get hurt changing, okay?" she smiled and chuckled lightly, "Relax."

Uncrossing his arms, his stance loosened and his eyes softened. Carefully, so he wouldn't hurt her arm, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"That's the last time I go without speaking to you. I don't know how I could survive without you."

"You're just a big old softy, aren't you?"

Words couldn't even begin to describe the happiness she felt. Lambo was back and it seemed their friendship was on the way to recovery. She wrapped her good arm loosely around his back, returning his embrace.

"Hurry up and get changed. I'll be outside if you need me."

She smiled as he left the room. Maybe they still had issues that needed to be resolved and things that needed to be said, but at least they were talking semi-normally again. Everything was on the right track. But I-Pin wasn't going to sit around anymore and wait for their fighting to happen again. Her resolve had been made. She was going to tell him how she felt as soon as she was better, consequences be damned.

* * *

**And with that... VOILA. My commitments have begun officially, so updates might come a bit longer in between, but I'm glad I was able to get out at least ten chapters. **

**19 chapters! WHOOT! Damn. My goal is to reach 25 by the end of this month so I'm WELL ahead of my schedule!  
**

**Gears will be shifting back with one more large milestone to hit. And then... maaaaaybe, _possibly_, this story will end? I'm only 30% convinced on how to end this story. But IDK. My cap might end up being 40 chapters... But if I can't reach that goal fast enough, then I might stay at 30... I'll see in a week or so.**

**Questions? Concerns? Lemme know :)**


End file.
